The War on Wheat

The War On Wheat profiles Dr. William Davis, author of the influential best-selling book Wheat Belly, a work that is largely considered the bible of those on a wheat-free diet. A charismatic man who believes genetically modified wheat is a universal health threat, this film presents his claims while questioning the lack of scientific evidence behind them.

While more doctors have been advising patients with diagnosed food sensitivities to steer away from wheat and gluten, Davis equates all North American wheat with "garbage", declaring it an addictive opiate that poses a risk to all who consume it. Consumers have not taken his claims lightly - since the beginning of the wheat-free craze companies including major cereal manufacturers and commercial bakeries have felt a significant negative impact on sales, with some businesses having to close entirely.

CBC's Mark Kelley interviews Canadian dietary scientists and researchers, such as McGill University's Joe Schwartz, to present counter-arguments to Davis' claims. Schwartz is just one of the many subjects that argues there is no hard science to back his crusade against wheat. He claims the evidence Davis cites in his book is "cherry-picked" data that has been manipulated into seeming more compelling than it should be. Similarly, diet expert Yoni Freedhoff likens Davis to an evangelical preacher, a showman who is full of promise but no substance. Perhaps most damning is the fact that not a single registered health organization - not even the Canadian Celiac Association - support the elimination of wheat for anyone not diagnosed with Celiac Disease.

Why, then, is the anti-wheat craze so popular? Health policy professor and author of Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything? Timothy Caulfield correlates the impact of celebrity endorsement on fad diets with the popularity of wheat-free eating, and indeed Davis has received much attention from major talk shows and Hollywood figureheads.

A provocative look at the dizzying and confusing area of food and dietary science, The War on Wheat reveals the minimal influence science has had in dissuading the general public from believing genetically modified crops present a serious health threat and leaves viewers wondering who to believe when it comes to beliefs about food consumption.

88 Comments / User Reviews

It's all about trust and who to believe. I prefer health issues with food backed up with plenty of scientific evidence for and against evidence than make my own decision.
Can't stand hype doctors, Wonder how much movie stars or famous people make per infomercial

I find it interesting that Dr Oz and Dr Davis all appeal to women to sell their "science". How about getting an audience full of men and see how the presentation is accepted. I have the sneaking suspicion the two good "doctors" would be laughed off the stage.

If its been grown and made like it was in ancient times its good for you,the problem is the food industry isn't regulated very good in any country so limit any processed food or liquid food,they can't be trusted,if its in a package its not that good for you and has little life in it regardless off how good the package might make it out to be,you are a living organism and you begin to die when you put dead lifeless old food in it.

PURE GARBAGE!!! This program didn't disprove that wheat causes the many ailments Dr. Davis. None of your hit-men/women disproved the studies Dr. Davis cited, nor can they claim that science proves that wheat isn't a problem for people. My partner isn't Celiac but he DOES have gut issues w/ wheat! Bloating, gas, pain...that's all real and only occurs when he eats modern wheat. When he doesn't eat any grains he has no joint pain....that's not a study...that is ACTUAL proof for him that grains incl wheat causes arthritic like conditions for him. It is the same for me too! Since I cut out sugar and grains I have no arthritic pain in my hands or knees when I wake up. Your program SUCKS!

The debate about wheat has NOTHING to do whether it is GMO or not. !!!
The fact is that wheat causes health problems.
I know because I have experienced for many decades before any discussion was going on that I had a problem with eating wheat products. I didn't need to be told. The health degradation was evident to me without discussion.
Therefore I feel obligated out of experience to let others know the truth AS I HAVE LIVED IT.
What this documentary smacks of immediately is the same type of ridicule that typifies Climate Change deniers.......
"Ha ha, These people are conspiracy nuts."
Anyone who doesn't understand the negative impact of wheat on health by now, will never admit to it because, like climate change deniers, they have a vested interest in doing otherwise and they don't want to.
My advice is to test it out for yourself and see if you find yourself in better health.
If there is no benefit then you are one of the lucky ones.
If you do feel an increase in health then do what is necessary.

I have seen enough of the way things can be massaged... and people and industries pushed and pulled this way and that that is has made me seriously wonder if the "gluten free" thing has as much to do with Monsanto (now Bayer) punishing the wheat farmers who so diligently resisted GMO wheat in the US. "Gluten Free" blew up... just exploded in such a way that, even living on the west coast in a city where health trends are evident early... the marketing of the idea way outpaced the adoption of it. Of course short of a leak there is no way to know for sure, but I am quite suspicious of this. Of course there are people who need to eliminate gluten, but for most people its more important just to make sure they are getting whole grain. I can't imagine what "gluten free" has done to the wheat farmers... and that may have been the point all along...

All I need to know is this: I caught a few minutes of Dr. Davis on TV. I got his book a few days late and read it one sitting. I started eliminating modern wheat from my diet. My sugar craving shrank in about five days. I lost 31 pounds over a summer. I felt better, especially my knees. I still eat buckwheat, rye, oats, polenta, quinoa, rice, farro, teff and other grains. I still think it is something about modern wheat, not a gluten issue with me.

Great video by a wheat eating vegan dispells all these low carb videos made by grossly overweight fraudsters :

Wheat is extremely safe and healthy and proven so by decades of medical research and thousands of years of usage by humankind. Everything this man with the "Wheat belly" book claims is an outright lie. This man is a total fraudster. Only the light of truth can stop it. There is no such thing as GMO wheat which is not made clear in this report. There was one study where old women seemed to have some mild stomach upset which soon was proven not to be connected with wheat- that is the spawn of all of this nonsense. Sugar causes diabetes not wheat. One way to help fight diabetes is to consume 2 to 3 tablespoons of coconut oil a day. Stay away from table sugar aka sucrose in all food. Stop using sugar and replace it with options like Stevia and Splenda. And eat plenty of greens and other multi colored vegetables and fruits. Invest in a juice machine and add a tall glass of fresh juices to your diet. But do not stop eating wheat or pasta- it's all good for you. Wheat works in the body to improve health and protect us from disease. Wheat is a good source of food energy.﻿
The fact is before the 1900s wheat was the bulk of most people's diets throughout the world, including the USA and Europe and heart disease was relatively rare as was cancer. There is a statistical correlation showing a massive increase in heart disease, cancer and other illness following the shift away from wheat as being the main source of calories over to meats and cheeses and processed sugar.﻿

Crop desiccating with glysophate... Look that up. It's an absolutely fact, that this is done, wide scale.

... We are 'absolutely' ingesting pesticides in our wheat; among other things... That harms the microbiome in our gut.

Also, grains in the USA have been genetically altered, to be resistant to the damaging affect of toxic pesticides, in ordered to withstand being drenched in it, and nit die. However, humans have not undergone such modifications... Yet we are being fed that poison, and we're getting sick; all while being told that we're paranoid and delusional if we think that glysophate laden wheat is making us that way.

Wheat is not genetically modified. If anyone has proof otherwise, please email me. Let me reason with everyone. People have LIVED on grains for thousands of years. Why now do we have all these problems? Because of processing which removes nutrients and puts in additives that don't grow in nature. Solution: prepare and eat only foods in their natural form. Read the labels. Better yet, follow recipes using only ingredients that are real foods. I have used whole organic wheat berries to make my own bread and foods (from whole grains) for many years and my immune and health improved after the first 3 months. I have not needed a doctor in 20 years. Being healthy, my body responds to simple things to heal me when something minor happens. My bread is delicious, easy to digest, filling, and I use NO ADDITIVES to make it taste great. Diabetics can eat it safely. It's all in the simple lost knowledge of how to prepare it so it responds as bread should both before and after it's eaten. Stop listening to this dude. He obviously doesn't know how to cook or about real food and nutrition or he wouldn't have gotten sick to begin with. Unhealthy people can't think well either. But they don't see it. Anyway, I never take advice from people who exhibit the opposite of what they say. Go listen to and read Michael Pollan. Stop blaming Monsanto for all your problems. Just don't eat their foods. You can say NO by not buying it and educate yourself with the facts. (And as for potatoes, get the waxy kind. That's what the Irish lived on and proliferated off of for many years until the potato famine. They are filled with lots of nutrients. Don't forget to slap on the real quality bacon, real butter, and real cheese made from good milk all over them! Yum! Beats any restaurant you'll ever go to!)

I have been on the "wheat free" diet for 3 years now. It also includes rice free and potato free, pretty much a starch free diet. I "Wheat Belly" when it first came out and was sceptical. But, after 4 months on the diet I had to go in for my yearly physical. My doctor asked me what medications I was taking ! He assumed that because my cholosterol had dropped dramatically, my blood sugar had dropped dramatically, my blood pressure had dropped dramatically…..that I had to be taking some pills. When I told him I simply removed "starches" from my diet, he laughed. He said there is no proof that a wheat free or starch free diet gives any of the results I was showing. I said the proof is in the results of my blood workup and blood pressure test. He still wouldn't give it his blessing. Then I found out why. There is pretty much a rule that doctors cannot proscribe FOOD or reduction of it, as medicine. (even though Hipocratis stated, "let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food). Another year went by and I remained on the starch free diet. Time for the yearly physical. This time my blood workup showed that my counts were even lower than before. Cholosterol down, (and I eat red meat and dary), blood sugar down, blood pressure down. Another side effect is that the pain in my fingers from arthrits has pretty much gone away. The wheat lobby, which is pretty much Monsanto, is attacking the no wheat or starch advocates because its cutting into their profits. Too bad Monsanto. You poision people.

That was a waste of time; or more like an advertisement for Wheat Belly book.
I agree that Wheat is genetically modified, which is what is causing our problems, but not one piece of added info to that claim? What a lousy video.
I had read quite a while ago that Monsanto's Roundup is what is causing the problem. Roundup is sprayed on the crop two weeks or so before Harvest so the entire crop will go begin to die simultaneously. Monsanto's Roundup has been used on wheat ever since Gluten became the culprit in the conspiracy, and conspiracy it is.
This info of Roundup as the true villain can be easily discovered when searched for, but MSM never tells us of these trespasses against us by almighty Monsanto. I've also read farmers are now using Roundup on other crops on a regular basis: beets, yams/sweet potatoes, and maybe onions.
The way I see it, if we do not take responsibility for our own lives, even at the cost of fighting for our lives, then we are truly doomed. As I write we are under siege by our very own traitorous and tyrannical govt who cares not one iota for America or its citizens. It is time each and every one of us learn that our corrupt govt and unbridled corporations the world over see all humans and the Earth also as nothing more than a commodity to be exploited for the monetary gain.
No sense praying to God; he knows what's going on and sent us our Forefathers who wrote the wonderful Constitution which is essentially in the trash can now. It is time to take back our lives and be responsible. Wheat is bad because Monsanto is bad.

I've studied both sides of this topic and see pros/cons with each side. I also read the book, Wheat Belly... and having a brain of my own, ability to discern information for myself and not suffering from believingeverythingIread-itis; the book didn't result in a ceremonial burning of everything in my house that contains wheat or gluten. The one thing 5th Estate gets correct: wheat isn't an enemy. However, their blatant disregard for objective reporting - given the author does not call out Canadian wheat farmers - he factually documents the man-made AND organic/natural transformation of wheat over decades (some circles call this 'evolution'... Fifth Estate calls it unfounded quackery) .... bottom line, some people went to a lot of effort to debunk the book. I agree: wheat isn't the enemy; rather, politically-motivated, manipulative, propaganda reporting like this program is the far greater threat and hazard to our health. Shame on you Fifth Estate.... Incidentally: I love fresh pasta and my wheat belly...

GM food industry, fertilizer and pesticide industries have same stockholders as those of war making industries. This documentary is backfiring the makers, exposing them and their fears of devaluation of their stocks.

After watching 'Merchants of Doubt', this documentary seems like a move by the wheat industry, using the same counter-arguments: "there is no "hard science", "minimal science proving GMO crops present a serious health threat", and specifically attacking the critic (Dr. Davis), and not showing scientific evidence proving Davis' claims about wheat wrong.

Instead of listening to this man gable on (I could only put up with him for so long) Try going without wheat, barley, rye, and oats for 21 days and see how you feel. I feel great after only two weeks. The best part is my cravings have stopped and I am back to having a healthy relationship with food. The girl had the perfect answer when he asks, Who do you trust at the end of the day"? and she says "Your body" wow, so intelligent and so concise. How can you argue with that?

DNA can't contain glyphosate. It can contain genes that give glyphosate resistance. Commercially grown wheat crops are hybrids, not GMO.
There were some scientific trials at GM wheat but no farmers wanted it so it was shelved.

You can find the list of varieties grown in Canada if you search for "Wheat - List of varieties which are registered in Canada". The breeding was different for each varieties so it's a bit hard to give you a definitive answer of how they were bred.

You could also look into the EPA fact sheet for Clofencet which is a plant growth regulator for use in the production of hybrid wheat seed. This chemical suppresses normal pollen development in female wheat plants without affecting fertility, allowing for cross-pollination by adjacent untreated wheat plants.

aranyani
- 05/30/2015 at 05:07

Ok will follow up with some research. It's hard to imagine corporations would shelve their genetically modified product at the request of farmers. Here in US if a farmer won't play ball, Monsanto simply contaminates their fields. Guess I wasn't clear about the science of DNA & glyphosate - bottom line is in the end the plant is drenched in a carcinogen. I'll keep eating my organic wheat for now.

Fabien L'Amour
- 05/30/2015 at 10:18

"The Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) was instrumental in stopping Monsanto's GM Wheat in 2004. As a united voice for wheat farmers, the CWB conducted market research which showed our international markets did not want GM wheat and would reject wheat exports from Canada if GM wheat was approved, because of the risk of contamination"

Source : Canadian Biotechnology Action Network

TheCovertChronicle
- 05/28/2015 at 07:50

How about this, if people are losing weight and feeling better, why go out of your way to judge this wheat free diet??? lol Why because corporations are going bankrupt thats why!

After being a Lyme patient for 5 years, I now understand how scientists, scientific data, and lack of scientific data can be manipulated to suit corporations and governments needs. Most scientists and doctors will state there is no such thing as chronic lyme and scientific evidence to support it, just like the wheat free diet. Yet, you have the Embers study that shows borrelia bacteria still persists after 6 months of antibiotic treatment. The argument then becomes, well that's one study, (sound familiar?). I'm thinking well isn't that enough to question the CDC's guidelines.

Instead of using an analogy, lets talk about the question this documentary didn't raise is, like why so many people are coming down with Celiac disease, Wheat Intolerances, Chrons, ulcerative colitis, and other digestive diseases nowadays. Non of these diseses were prevalent 50, 100, 200, 1000 years ago. First thing we should be asking ourselves, since these diseases are digestive related, we should be looking at the food products we consume the most. Wheat and GMO corn/high fructose corn syrup being in everything, well that's enough for me to be concerned about these products.

I also want to say, this documentary is very one sided, they interviewed multiple scientists and doctors to debunk the wheat free diet. You see bits and pieces of Dr. William Davis as well as some of his supporters at the patient level. Yet they didn't interview any scientists or doctors who would help support Dr. William Davis and his idealogy. Let me tell you from experience after going through hell of Lyme Disease, there are plenty of ILADS doctors and scientists that I have met that support Dr. Davis and his diet.

I like what the one young lady said, who do you trust in the end? "Your body!!!" I say damn right!

Through my own experience and suffering from Lyme Disease, I feel a massive difference of eating gluten free rice bread compared to wheat bread. My joints don't get inflamed, dont get any headaches, nor do I feel bloated! I tested negative for Celiac.

As for this Fabien L'Amour that's going out of his way to debunk everyone's response to this documentary. Man oh man, got a little narcissism in ya? lol Let some other people respond to these people's comments...

I'll reply since you directly asked me a question. Nope not narcissism, it started with my complete disagreement with Dr Davis unscientific statements about wheat. Good for you if you feel better when you don't eat gluten, you might have Non Celiac gluten sensitivity which is indeed a real thing.

My problem is when people try to say Wheat is a complete poison and should be taken out of everybody's diet. There are billions of people that ate wheat for milleniums and didn't suffer any consequences, you just can't ignore that fact. There is also the problem that gluten free food is much more expensive than usual. It's an unnecessary monetary burden to spend on gluten free for most people.

TheCovertChronicle
- 05/29/2015 at 00:45

Just remember this statement "Yes wheat has been modified to produce high yield crops."

And then they basically avoided answering the question whether or not the glutens and glietens have officially been changed. Just to let you know, saying they are very similar and your grandparents wheat doesn't mean the glutens and glietens are the same, they completely avoiding answering the question directly. This type of trickery has been used time and time again with GMOs and saying food products are natural, which is meant to seem like they are organic but they are not.

So I'll bring this topic up again Fabien, with all the digestive diseases disorders now plaguing this world, what do you think is causing them? The documentary brings up Celiac, which they say is 1%, but ignore all the rest of them such as Chrons, Ulcerative Colitis, and many others... These weren't around 100 - 1000 years ago....

And just to let you know, I dont trust statistics at all after dealing with lyme as well as looking at the unemployment rate. Just overnight lyme disease statistics had changed from 30,000 to 300,000. And fact, we all know the unemployment rate is a lie.

It's hard trusting scientists as well as the government, after seeing how much they have lied before with disease such as Lyme Disease. As well as other topics such as cigarette smoking, remember scientist, doctors, and the government once said cigarette smoking was healthy?

Just read this paragraph and you'll start to understand where I'm coming from:

"Executives at tobacco companies knew they had to take action to suppress the public’s fears about tobacco products. “Tobacco companies asked themselves: How can we go about reassuring the public that particularly cigarettes, but also cigars and pipes, are not harmful?” Jackler told HemOnc Today. The answer was to use medical research and physicians to show the public that cigarettes were not harmful. Although the doctors in these advertisements were always actors and not real physicians, the image of the physician permeated cigarette ads for the next two and a half decades."

These people are banishing diseases with this diet. That's enough proof for me, I don't need a scientistific proof that this is a healthy diet. Proof is in the puding and that's why this diet is catching on.

The doctors and scientists tried to debunk his book completely just because he may be embellishing things a little. So if one things wrong, the whole book is wrong. They used that against him and it's absolutely ridiculous. Let me tell you a little thing I've learned in life, everyone lies!!! As I've shown in the article above!!!!

One things for sure, with capitalism ruling our society, you better have your trust somewhere else than "government funded" scientists....

Fabien L'Amour
- 05/29/2015 at 05:11

It's a fallacy to compare cigarettes with wheat or even bread. Cigarettes have been proven scientifically to do harm to anyone that smokes them.
He may be embellishing things a little? He publicly declared wheat is a poison, a 10 000 years old mistake and is the source of countless unrelated diseases.

If he said something similar about the IPhone or any car, he would get sued for millions. He is just lucky he is aiming his unsubstantiated claims against a product noone has patents on. He would get torn apart in court if he ever named any brand of cereal or bread because he would then need to provide proof of what he is saying. I dare him to say Mini-Wheats cereals or Nature's Own bread are a poison to prove his point.

TheCovertChronicle
- 05/29/2015 at 10:06

"Cigarettes have been proven scientifically to do harm to anyone that smokes them."

You're wrong, did you read my comment up above. At one point both scientists and doctors were paid off to say cigarettes weren't unhealthy in the 30s and 50s. And they had scientific evidence saying that they were completely fine. Thus, problems of trust come in when "similar scientists" through a government grant say this new hybridized wheat is perfectly fine for us, when 100s of thousands of people are coming down with digestive diseases. That's the point I was making....

It actually took thousands if not millions of people to die from cigarettes and cancer for people to finally make the connection. I'm sure the pressure came from the people in the 50s, not the scientists...

Watch the documentary Fed Up and you'll see the same thing is going on with Coca Cola and other soft drinks. Pop/sugar is poison and yet there are doctors and scientists who say there's no proof it's bad for you.

"He publicly declared wheat is a poison." Stop referring to this food as just wheat, it's no longer that, it has been changed. It's hybridized wheat.... So start calling it that, instead of just referring it as normal wheat which makes it seam harmless. Whether it's a GMO or not, I care. It's been altered/modified as the documentary suggested, none of the scientists know the repercussions of this alteration. When thinks are altered, they can without a doubt turn into poison. I think that may be harsh words, but hey when people are coming down with digestive disorders and 1/3 of the public going to be diabetic by 2015. You can call it that, just as sugar is poison "when you get to much of it."

Dr. Davis is trying to solve the issues why so many are coming down with digestive disease, if you want to sue him for that, go ahead. Only damage I see him doing is hurting corporations. Which is a plus from my end, because I do not like corporate control, it has absolutely corrupted this country.

You seem somewhat educated, but you don't take into consideration the world we live in nowadays. No longer can you just count on scientific evidence because the system within has been totally corrupted by corporate control.

Fabien L'Amour
- 05/29/2015 at 10:26

Water can kill you when you get too much of it. Because something has changed DOESN'T mean it has become a poison. The main risk factor for type 2 diabetes is obesity, not wheat, hybridized or not. There is no magic solution other than reducing your carbohydrates intake and weight to reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes. It is incredibly simplistic to attribute diabetes to wheat.

The evidence could be untrustworthy if it came from a single source but it comes from scientists across the globe from various spheres of expertise, not 1 cardiologist that wrote a book based on anecdotes.

And they are not scientists from the 30's and the 50's, they provide peer-reviewed scientific papers that prove what they found and no experts have come forward with counter evidence or critics of what they published. Your suggestion that Celiac disease specialized gastroenterologists are bought by corporations is ludicrous. Their field of expertise is the worst wheat caused allergy, they would certainly support Dr Davis if he was right and they don't.

The Canadian Celiac Association, the American Heart Association, the Obesity Society and the American College of Cardiology all refuse to endorse gluten-free diets for anyone who does not have celiac disease. Are you saying they are bought by corporations too? If they were bought by corporations, they would endorse gluten free for everybody as the prices and profit margins on these products are higher than the non-gluten products.

The AACC International, a global nonprofit organization of 2,500 grain scientists and professionals studying the chemistry of cereal grains and their products, also disagrees with Dr. Davis

You can also look for the letter from Dr. Guandalini to CBS This Morning on the web where he discusses the falsehoods Dr Davis said in his interview. Stefano Guandalini is Professor and Chief, Section of Pediatric Gastroenterology at the University of Chicago and is the founder and Medical Director of the Celiac Disease Center.

The University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center also published the following statement : "Unless claims are verified by rigorously tested, science-based evidence published in peer-reviewed journal(s), it is the position of both Dr. Guandalini and our Center not to support such observation-based, anecdotal claims as those made by Dr. Davis. Hypotheses are important steps on the path to a solution, but are not the solutions themselves, and we believe it is both DANGEROUS and UNETHICAL to impart such assumptions as facts to the general public, which is why we'll continue to take steps toward increased awareness, advocacy, education and a cure, as our mission states, and deliver the facts as they're discovered not only by us, but by others in the medical community."

Notice that I attack your arguments, not your education.

P.S. Cigarettes have been proven scientifically to do harm to anyone that smokes them. I am not wrong, it is a fact stated on every pack of cigarettes sold in Canada and U.S.A.

Fabien L'Amour
- 05/26/2015 at 21:13

I just watched an interview with him on CBS This Morning, where he claims researchers breeded a new protein named gliadin in wheat. Gliadin is a component of gluten which was always part of wheat so that's a falsehood.

He also says gliadin is an opiate which is again wrong. It was found it could bind to opiate receptors in a laboratory study with rat brain tissue in 1984. No study was done in humans. There is no scientific evidence that gliadin stimulates appetite. So that's 2 more wrongs for Doctor Davis.

If people ate on average 440 more calories per day because of wheat as he claims, every wheat eater would add 46 lbs per year! I don't see a lot of 1000 lbs bread eaters on the street.

I stopped analysis after 59 seconds of interview, how many more falsehoods does one need to finally understand he is twisting the truth to sell more books?

There is a great article titled "Wheat Belly Gives Me a Bellyache" by Dr Joe Schwarcz director of the Office for Science & Society at McGill University that lists more nonsense from Dr Davis.

For the science inclined, the article titled "Wheat Belly — An Analysis of Selected Statements and Basic Theses from the Book" is an even more complete 13 pages scientific analysis of the mistakes and lies of Dr Davis. There are 116 references to scientific documents that support the article.

"Nearly 25% of Americans (many more than the projected 3 million CD patients in the U.S.) are reducing or cutting gluten from their diets. This remarkable trend in the general population reflects the misconception that gluten can be harmful for everybody and, therefore, should be avoided to stay healthy, to lose weight, or even to prevent severe diseases."

Just curious Fabian, only because I see a ton of your cometnts on here. Are you pro-gmo or not?

Fabien L'Amour
- 05/28/2015 at 11:23

Some GMO make sense, some don't. My opinion is each case needs to be studied individually, a blanket opinion on something that complex is an over simplification of a very deep topic.

mysterioso
- 05/26/2015 at 16:11

I read the book a few years ago. I tried the diet and am still on it. I lost 25 lbs. My blood sugar level dropped dramatically. My cholesterol level dropped dramatically. My blood pressure dropped dramatically. I did not increase my physical routine at all or change any thing else in my diet except the elimination of wheat products and other carbohydrates. All of these changes were documented by my doctor in my annual physical over two years. I would call that scientific evidence.

Scientific evidence that when you reduce your calories intake, you will lose weight and be in better health. I don't see it as evidence that wheat is a poison as Dr Davis claims.

mysterioso
- 05/26/2015 at 21:40

Obviously you only read the first line of my post. Do you also judge books by their covers ? My blood workups for two years showed drastic improvements after starting the diet and maintaining it. It proved in THE LAB that wheat and carbohydrates are bad, (read poison if you want to), for your system. Please show any counter evidence if you have it. Which you don't.

Carrying some extra pounds — even just a few — contributes to high cholesterol. Losing as little as 5 to 10 percent of your body weight can help significantly reduce cholesterol levels. (Mayo clinic High cholesterol page)

"Increased body weight is a strong risk factor for hypertension."
"This meta-analysis clearly shows that weight loss is important for the prevention and treatment of hypertension."

Wheat is rich in calories, off course you will lose weight and benefit from the loss of weight if you replaced it with less calories rich food. You attribute it to the innate danger of wheat when these are effects of the calories intake.

mysterioso
- 05/26/2015 at 22:20

Finally, you agree with Dr. Davis and me. After criticizing his book, findings and him and me...you post "evidence" of all he's been saying. Stop trolling.

Fabien L'Amour
- 05/26/2015 at 22:35

I don't agree with Dr Davis, he claims all kind of nonsense about wheat if you cared to read my new post up top. I agree with dieting if you are overweight, I bet if you had a nutritionist give you a low carb diet with wheat but a clear calculation of your calories intake you would have exactly the same results.

Upvoting your own replies does nothing to the ranking by the way, only the first post in the discussion gets ranked higher when it gets upvotes.

TheCovertChronicle
- 05/28/2015 at 07:57

If you eat food with low calories but has a high carb/sugar level, you will not lose weight, as stated and covered in the Fed Up documentary. You can believe all the scientific evidence you want, that is far from true if the food your eating has a high sugar content.

Fabien L'Amour
- 05/28/2015 at 11:31

High carbohydrates or sugar content is incompatible with low calories so I have no idea what food you are talking about.

Foodie
- 05/26/2015 at 06:34

What an uninformed, unscientific documentary trying to stop the healthful changes happening to the western diet, the SAD diet, that has caused untold damage to our bodies and our children's bodies. shameful.

What a hatchet job. I eat wheat, but im seriously now reconsidering this. Im always conscious and suspicious of 'protestith too much' films like this, that try too hard to get the audience to think THEIR way.

Awful documentary! Boring, empty, a he said she said format. When the interviewer asked, "What will we have without science?" I answered, "This movie!" There is much pertinent information on the human biome project, paleo diets, Weston price foundation, GAPS. There is tons of science. Why not ask if that grain was sprayed with glyphosate on harvest? Look at spiraling gluten intolerance numbers. Weak. Stinky. Who financed this?

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation financed it. Celiac Disease is estimated at 1% and Non-Celiac gluten sensitivity at a fraction of that number, what are your spiraling numbers?

rgaura
- 05/25/2015 at 13:32

Personal experience, various doctors (esp. functional medicine doctors). I attend many conferences, and read medical research. Its common in US. I have heard data indicating that one third of the population in US has this sensitivity. I cured myself and my children through the GAPS diet. Have you noticed that every market has a non gluten section? Huge explosion in non gluten products due to demand.

Fabien L'Amour
- 05/26/2015 at 00:12

Gastroenterologists say gluten sensitivity is a fraction of 1 percent and even with poorly conducted research maximum number I have seen was 6%. Can you point me to that data that says 1/3rd of the population is sensible to gluten?

rgaura
- 05/26/2015 at 05:45

Sorry, you must do your own research. I read so much, I do not create bibliographies...

Fabien L'Amour
- 05/26/2015 at 08:27

Ok thanks, I'll put it in the hearsay category then.

The Periled Sea
- 05/24/2015 at 16:43

Look to the studies with Johns Hopkins and University Hospital linking wheat to not just mood swings but schizophrenia. Also, find publications and studies by Alessio Fasano, MD, Director, Center for Celiac Research

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that can occur in genetically predisposed people where the ingestion of gluten leads to damage in the small intestine. It is estimated to affect 1 in 100 people worldwide.

Quite a few of the adult schizophrenics on an inpatient psychiatric unit in 1967 happened to have a major history of celiac disease (gluten/wheat intolerance) as children. As in 50-100 times the amount of celiac disease that one would expect by chance. Celiac doctors also noticed their patients were schizophrenic about 10X as often as the general population.

Although symptoms (particularly gastrointestinal) are often similar to those of celiac disease, the overall clinical picture is less severe for gluten sensitivity.

Recent research at the Center for Celiac Research shows that gluten sensitivity is a different clinical entity that does not result in the intestinal inflammation that leads to a flattening of the villi of the small intestine that characterizes celiac disease. The development of tissue transglutaminase (tTG) autoantibodies, used to diagnose celiac disease, is not present in gluten sensitivity.

But Dr. Stefano Guandalini, the founder and medical director at the University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center, said : “There is a small, tiny, tiny, tiny number of patients who may be sensitive to gluten without having celiac disease.”

Like Guandalini, most gastroenterologists are skeptical that Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity is anywhere near as widespread as patients believe it is.

“I think [these patients] exist. They’re probably not that common, but they exist,” Dr Joseph Murray said about people with non-celiac gluten sensitivity, or what he calls “celiac-light.”

If you aren't in the 1% with Celiac disease, gluten or wheat is not a problem unless you are part of the tiny fraction with non-celiac gluten sensitivity.

rgaura
- 05/25/2015 at 13:40

It has only recently been accepted that all nuerodegenerative disorders begin in the gut. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, said all disease begins in the gut. Once the gut starts to break down due to dysbiosis caused by whatever toxins ( glyphosate, pesticides, toxins in the food supply, etc.) then wheat becomes a problem simply because it is hard to digest, and large undigested molecules escape directly into the blood stream, and cause havoc throughout the body. Inflammaton of the gut is a major symptom.
If you look at the guts of slaughtered pigs who were fed RR GMOs (which contain glyphosate residues) they are bloody, inflamed and smelly. Looks like a pile of jelly rather than the organs from conventionally or organically fed pigs.

Fabien L'Amour
- 05/26/2015 at 00:14

Accepted by whom? It's the first time I read that ALL neurodegenerative disorders begin in the gut.

rgaura
- 05/26/2015 at 20:19

It is a premise of functional medicine. See reference above to slideshow w/ documentation.

Fabien L'Amour
- 05/26/2015 at 20:21

A premise is an assumption that something is true.

The Periled Sea
- 05/24/2015 at 16:20

Your body naturally provides an antibody to fight wheat (non-gmo). If you go off wheat for several weeks your body will no longer manufacture that antibody and so you make yourself gluten/wheat allergic. I learned the hard way by following the Adkins diet until it was too late.

As far as I know, wheat is sub pair with other foods. It is not that it is unhealthy, it's just not healthy enough to be the main part of the human diet, nor is meat. Hominid (Human like apes, Latin isn't my strong side) have been designed through evolution to live off of fruit, vegetables, and the occasional meat for the better part of 2.000.000 years, if not more. Wheat have been in our diet for, I don't know, less than 5000 years? To live off of mostly wheat and meat, is literally why Americans are so obese. (and a lack of excise of course) So wheat is a contributor to obesity. Obesity is a huge contributor to a long range of very deadly diseases. Therefor, too much wheat in your diet, is detrimental to your health. Pretty straight forward logic if you ask me. When you eat wheat, you are taking out other parts of your diet that is more beneficial to you, like fruit and vegetables. How much salad is in your average pasta salad? Not much, right?

There are deviations of course, I'm one of them, I can eat whatever I want, and sit on my skinny ass all day long without gaining as much as a pound. However, ever since I started eating as much fruit and vegetables as I can stomach, my brain function, immune response, and general overall health have increased substantially. Fruit and vegetables is super good for the human body, wheat, eh, not as much.

Edit: English isn't my first language, so please keep that in mind. Error corrections are greatly appreciated.

I thought sugars were the reason why Americans are so obese? Isn't it easier to gain calories eating candies and drinking soda drinks than eating bread?

SmoTh
- 05/23/2015 at 07:02

Probably, idk, I'm not a dietitian. But yes, excessive use of sugar isn't making it any better. The big baddy in the room is processed food I guess. Which primarily consists of wheat, meat, and sugar. Sugar is also a psychoactive drug, not great in high quantities at all.

Fabien L'Amour
- 05/23/2015 at 07:45

I had a look at a real life example with the Canadian nutrition guide, mandatory on food here.

All Purpose White Wheat flour is 3.64 calories per gram and has no Vitamin A and C but contains Calcium, Iron and dietary fiber.

White sugar is 3.87 calories per gram and has no Vitamin A and C, Iron, Calcium or dietary fiber.

I guess you can get fat on both if you exceed what your body burns daily.

d.h
- 05/23/2015 at 21:33

Grains as all starchy food brakes down to sugar in your body.

Ofelas
- 05/21/2015 at 18:40

A lot of mis (mal) information in these comments. There have been tests of GMO wheat in the US (also GMO wheat was discovered growing in fields in Oregon in 2014 NOT where it had been planted) and certain companies are considering making it available by the use of the usual biased testing and collusion with the regulatory agencies. The only thing stopping this is that most wheat (actually most grains including rice and other non-gluten grains) is sprayed with glyphosate (Roundup, a plant herbicide/pesticide) shortly before harvest, and yes these grains will contain a certain amount of glyphosate. The intent is to kill the grain so that it will be ready for harvest at the desired time. In fact, the above mentioned Oregon tracts were discovered when the fields were sprayed prior to harvest and some of the wheat did NOT die as was desired. So, currently there is neither need nor desire within the Agri-bussines community for GMO wheat. Note that the WHO has listed glyphosate as carcinogenic. Genetically Modifying an Organism is extremely dangerous. E. coli (nobody spells out Escherichia because people then think it is a Mexican grunge band) is a common soils bacteria and essential to the continuation of higher level life forms on earth. It is in (or should be) every humans gut, most animals guts, and is most assuredly in raw milk (which is neither illegal nor unobtainable in most US States). Over the years a number of strains (genetically different) have arisen that cause minor or serious illness especially to those whose immune systems have not been exposed to E. coli, by for instance, drinking raw milk. In the real world of bacteria and viruses humans can either fight them and lose or learn to co-exist with them symbiotically. As for science one should always ask, Science in the Service of Whom? No amount of science will ever change a religious (political) conviction. On this documentary film I can only say that someone was willing to pay something to counter the opinion of Dr. Davis. Its intent is clearly to make people feel uncomfortable with Dr. Davis and comfortable with what is a clearly damaged worldwide food, wheat. The promoter (and profiteers) of GMO foods do not care what you know or understand as long as you eat it. And people will eat GMO foods as long as they feel comfortable doing so. People act out of their feelings and justify their actions by what they know.

Someone paid the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to question the validity of the affirmations from a Cardiologist that claims wheat is a 10 000 years old mistake? As far as I know, wheat wasn't GM 10 000 years ago and isn't nowadays either. Without agriculture we would still be hunter-gatherers, very silly is the affirmation that wheat wasn't a huge part of our progress and still feeds billions of people that live decades longer than a few centuries ago.

Leigh Atkins
- 05/21/2015 at 12:11

Who cares if wheat sales go down & some big fat cat looses a little profit selling his wheat?
The gap in the market will soon be filled with enterprising farmers who see sales going up for quinoa, rye, flax, barley, chia, sesame, brown rice, buckwheat, etc. That's how it's always been & that's the best part of capitalism.
The other really significant factor is that in sowing these other grains, the land & our diets will be saved from the curse of the monoculture. It's no good for the dirt & it's DEFINITELY no good for the bacteria in our intestinal tracts.
I say let this bloke bang on, yeah sure, DEMAND PROOF of his claims, but don't complain about the side-effects. It just sounds like this pro-wheat interviewer is just trying to bash this guy before the doco even starts anyway - if he keeps up like this all through the vid, I'm just going somewhere else.

To answer your question, the farmers that grow the 713 million tons produced annually on the planet. These other cereals will still be monocultures, it will only be different crops.

Leigh Atkins
- 05/28/2015 at 17:23

They'll care temporarily until they find a better crop with a more lucrative market, & there are plenty out there.
As for the monocultures, seems like planet earth is destined to be one big fat monoculture doesn't it? Coz as a species, that's all we can do with ourselves.
But don't worry, Earth will just shake us off like a bad cold...

Archall
- 05/20/2015 at 21:59

Didn't read that book. Fear people - commune way to control them. Just for money :D. Ridiculous how doctor made him self a Jesus of wheat heaters.

Read the book, try the diet. It works. I've been on it for two years and the results are dramatic. My doctors are amazed.

Leigh Atkins
- 05/28/2015 at 17:25

I'd say it's a miracle if you're genetically predisposed to be sensitive to wheat products, but if it's not a genetic problem for you, you'll scoff & scorn at the success of this guy.
And that would explain most of the odd replies in this whole comment feed here, don't you think?

Fabien L'Amour
- 05/20/2015 at 20:17

lol complete nonsense, in many Asian countries, wheat is not a major part of the daily diet and yes they do have diseases listed by Dr Wheat Belly as being caused by wheat.
The most damning fact that completely discredit Dr William Davis as an expert on wheat is that there is NO GM WHEAT commercially grown in Canada or the United States.

"The U.S. is the world's leading wheat exporter. Many foreign markets have said they will not purchase GM wheat, or any wheat grown in the same region because of the potential of cross-contamination of non-GM crops with GM traits. So far, genetically modified wheat has not been approved in the U.S. for commercial use. We must continue to oppose the theft of a great common resource and protect the sovereignty of independent farmers and our right to safe food."

I don't believe that Dr Davis claims that wheat is genetically modified. Rather he says that it has be manipulated by 'interbreeding' wheat crops somewhere near Mexico city where the season allows for two crops per year.

The wheat has gone from 14 genes to 28 genes to now 42 genes, and that is what his causing all the problems. It was not genetically modified as such.

I know that in my own case, removing wheat from my diet and taking a good quality vitamin and mineral tablet has done wonders for my general health and in particular weight loss. My experience is that the advice Dr Davis proclaims rings far truer than what I read coming from the 'other side'.

Fabien L'Amour
- 05/24/2015 at 11:19

Taking out any calorie rich food from a diet and replacing it by a multivitamin will reduce weight. It's simple math, any nutritionist will confirm.

Polyploidy is quite common in nature, it even happens in human muscle tissues, bone marrow and liver tissues. Nothing to worry about really.

Polyploidy is pervasive in plants and some estimates suggest that 30–80% of living plant species are polyploid, Polyploid plants can arise spontaneously in nature by several mechanisms, including meiotic or mitotic failures, and fusion of unreduced (2n) gametes. Both autopolyploids (e.g. potato) and allopolyploids (e.g. canola, wheat, cotton) can be found among both wild and domesticated plant species.

For more information, you can read the article titled "For Plants, Polyploidy Is Not a Four-Letter Word" from the Scientific American journal.

Leigh Atkins
- 05/28/2015 at 17:33

I've read a few of your replies Fabien, & I'd say that you have NO experience from the point of view of a person genetically predisposed to a sensitivity to wheat.
You can have all the professional opinion & educated background you want regarding this subject, but if you don't have personal problems with wheat, you lack a whole 'world' of understanding regarding the subject & you seem a little too eager to ram your opinion down our collective throats without thought first, for this angle. A nasty person might call it arrogance.
Just a thought - sand in the wind...

Fabien L'Amour
- 05/28/2015 at 19:25

As I don't have any experience from the point of view of someone with an allergy to strawberries, seafood or peanuts. What difference does it make on what reality is and how many people are affected by it? Would any sane person proclaim strawberries, seafood or peanuts as a poison that no one should consume because a part of the population is allergic or sensitive?

mysterioso
- 05/26/2015 at 16:59

Davis never said wheat was genetically modified. He said it was cross bred.

Fabien L'Amour
- 05/26/2015 at 20:18

You are correct, He said : "It's worse than GMO" which doesn't exist on the market so I have no idea what he bases his comparison on.

Pol
- 05/20/2015 at 17:14

Shame on you CBC. You have missed the point. The grains that are genetically modified come from Mon and they are Mon property, not original strains bred the natural way over the generations. And if you did a test on grocery store processed bread i bet you the results would come out differently. Of course you would mis-represent the information to wage propoganda war against someone who definitely doesn't have it all right, but at least hes doing a better job then our paid off scientists and news networks.

except every test done on GM foods comes up with absolutly no differences whatsoever.

You realize that people like you are pretty much the only reason that Monsanto holds it's monopoly right? Seriously you anti-gm pseudo environmentalists are the best PR team a multinational could hope for, and best of all you do it for them for free!

Pol
- 05/20/2015 at 21:36

Where is your evidence for this and how many of those scientists, those scientists labs, universities are on the corporation payroll? The wheat and soy with their built in pesticide most certainly has an adverse health effect on your body. The myriad of diseases cited by Davis is irrelevant to the point and fact that Your body isn't just taking on a pesticide that it has to work to get out (which we normally wouldn't have in our diet anyway because we wash our food), its absorbing pesticide producing cells that your body absorbs and incorporates thus effecting our own bodies cells. Until there is some real independent research explaining and showing repeatable consistent evidence on how the toxin is safely expelled from the body (which there hasn't been and they "v" refuse to do) and not someone who can be paid off by the government or industry, that stuff is dangerous. Any clear logic as to what the change of the wheat is will tell you that.

Btw, the reason they have the monopoly is not because of people like me. Its because they were the first to patent many of the GM crops. Therefore, no other company can have rights to the same foods as them. Finite species for mass food consumption lead to a race to the bottom for GM patents and Mon won.

a_no_n
- 05/21/2015 at 02:55

besides the fact that it's an insane conspiracy theory that couldn't possibly exist? Not much...Except for the fact that your average scientist makes less than 20k a year and they have to fight damned hard to make that.

It's a bit rich you asking me for evidence when you feel happy to make some of the claims that you do...I'm going to try and pick apart your Angean stable of misconceptions that you've built up.

1/"The wheat and soy with their built in pestacides"

That's far enough...first of all, the crops don't have pesticides in them...This is usually the kind of mistake made by someone with absolutly no understanding whatsoever of genetic science, because it's not even an oversimplified version of the truth, it's just flat out wrong. The PLANT (Note I say plant not fruit or whatever.) Is adapted to not be attractive to it's pest...It doesn't seep pesticide or do any other moronic thing like that. So it doesn't have an adverse effect on your body because what you are criticizing doesn't exist.

2/" its absorbing pesticide producing cells"

Again, not how genetics works...there is no pesticide in the cells. The plants are being modified to not need pesticides, not produce their own. This really basic misconception seems to be the main driving force behind your criticism of the technology.

3/ "Until there is some real independent research explaining and showing repeatable consistent evidence"

First of all, there is independent evidence, decades of it...just because you choose to pretend it doesn't exist, that doesn't mean it magically disappears from reality. If you've chosen to not seek this information out that's your fault. nobody elses.

4/ "The real reason they have a monopoly..."

No sorry but it is solely because of people like you, who make GM technology into such a toxic asset that only a multinational like Monsanto can afford to take the risk...You people have singlehandedly eradicated all of Monsant's competition for it, and on top of that you've made sure everybody who is interesting in that business knows exactly who to go to...competition eradication and free advertising...On top of that whenever an independent research team has tried to get more evidence in the past, a literal pitchfork and torch wielding mob shows up to burn the experiment...None of you are interesting in evidence, just pandering to your petty superstitions.

Your problem is you haven't even looked at the other side of this argument. Not for one second have you had the intellectual integrity to at least investigate what science has to say on the matter. Instead you cross yourself whenever it's mentioned and prattle on about how it's all one big conspiracy...and then you expect to be taken seriously...LOL.

Fabien L'Amour
- 05/21/2015 at 02:58

Don't bother man, there is no Genetically Modified wheat on the market so it's completely wrong to pretend wheat is producing any pesticide.

Fabien L'Amour
- 05/21/2015 at 03:03

No wheat on the market as been genetically modified to produce any molecule that kills insects. There is NO BUILT IN PESTICIDE in any wheat commercially grown in North America.

mysterioso
- 05/26/2015 at 17:00

Not true.

a_no_n
- 05/26/2015 at 17:15

prove it.

Leigh Atkins
- 05/28/2015 at 17:36

I think that time will tell us all what Monsanto REALLY IS...
And there will be people who were right...
And people who were wrong...

a_no_n
- 05/29/2015 at 02:59

and by the time we realise that, thousands of people in the third world will starve to death when it could have been easily prevented with new technology.

I wonder if the Anti-GM crowd would be willing to accept that responsibility?
Every famine that rages out of control, that's on them!

Fabien L'Amour
- 05/21/2015 at 02:15

There is no Genetically modified wheat on the market from Monsanto, please get informed before spreading falsehoods.

"The transgenic wheat that was furthest developed was Monsanto's MON 71800, which is glyphosate-resistant via a CP4/maize EPSPS gene. Monsanto received approval from the FDA for its use in food, but withdrew its EPA application in 2004, so the product was never marketed."

Actually, there is no GM wheat grown commercially by any company in the U.S.

"APHIS has not deregulated any GE wheat varieties to date, and thus, there are no GE wheat varieties for sale or in commercial production in the United States."

Source : USDA News Release, Sept. 26 2014

And obviously, there is no GM wheat in Canada either :

"The Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) was instrumental in stopping Monsanto's GM Wheat in 2004. As a united voice for wheat farmers, the CWB conducted market research which showed our international markets did not want GM wheat and would reject wheat exports from Canada if GM wheat was approved, because of the risk of contamination."

"Thursday, April 7, 2011. Yesterday, the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) issued a statement to clarify that it has no plans to research genetically modified (GM) wheat."